


Featherlight

by BoonasaurusRex



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Apocalypse, Demon Blood Addiction, Guardian Angels, Knight(s) of Hell, Multi, Nephilim!Dean, Not Beta Read, Season/Series 05, Slow Burn, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 07:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3802744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoonasaurusRex/pseuds/BoonasaurusRex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hell was a vile pit, a sweltering abyss nearly crammed to overflow with the souls of the damned. Screams and flesh rending from flesh formed a cacophony that was punctuated by off time ticking, designed to drive any mind well and truly mad. They burst through the door that held Hell sealed and immediately felt the strong scent of debauchery, sin and punishment bombard their senses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited to begin this series! It's been a year in the making, and I've already got twelve chapters of it written up! Trust me, this will be a long fic indeed. I hope you guys enjoy this fic as much as I do. Check me out on Tumblr here- http://laminationnation.tumblr.com/

Hell was a vile pit, a sweltering abyss nearly crammed to overflow with the souls of the damned. Screams and flesh rending from flesh formed a cacophony that was punctuated by off time ticking, designed to drive any mind well and truly mad. They burst through the door that held Hell sealed and immediately felt the strong scent of debauchery, sin and punishment bombard their senses.

Clad in celestial armour and baring long swords and spears, the Heavenly Host still trembled upon entering this accursed place. This was not home, this was not controlled order. This was a place of chaos, of madness. If there was one thing that could sway an angel’s steel-wrought nerves, it was the unpredictable, the disorderly. Still, the line held strong, the line needed to, as when the doors to Hell swung open at the command of their leader, the screams of demons were immediate.

Hell’s alarm was raised, demons were either running away or foolishly banding together to fight, unarmed and vulnerable. There were many of them, their wicked, twisted faces surrounding the host immediately, lunging for their wings. They had one job here. They must hold off the demons and offer a clear path for their leader so that he could save his prophesized vessel, the righteous man, from the poison grips of perdition.

Every feather hardened on command, becoming thin and sharp yet truly unbreakable. With wings like razors, the angels sliced through the sea of demons, following the orders of their three garrison leaders. These angels had been handpicked to assist in this mission, as it was of absolute importance and required only the strongest that Heaven had to offer.

Once the sea was parted just enough, Michael dove into the inner rings of Hell, wings spread wide as he dared any opposition to face him. He was a truly terrifying force, and the garrisons followed him without a second thought into the abyss.

~*~*~

Castiel stood at the forefront of the third garrison, Inias and Hester at his flank. Uriel and Balthazar followed behind. To his left, Castiel saw Pahaliah’s creams and golds cutting through the body of a large demon, as well as Hadraniel’s sky blues as he surged on. They were good leaders, their garrisons strong and well suited for this mission.  Castiel had nothing but comfort with this chosen group.

It took surging through the sixth circle for Castiel to see it. To feel it as it echoed to the very core of his grace. A blinding light beaconed from further down in the abyss. Their goal, their purpose. Drawn like a moth to a flame, Castiel abandoned his post and began hurtling down, Michael’s furious screeches falling upon deaf ears.

He must reach the light, there is no other choice. The light is all that there is. Down he surges, ignoring the way that demons attempt to latch to his wings, ignoring the hellfire that licks at the tips of his primaries. It doesn’t matter. He must keep going.

He plummets to the ninth circle, where the light is so blinding that nothing is visible. He hears the broken strains of the light, he sees that the light is tainted. He reaches for the light, ignoring the way the light hisses and screeches to escape. As soon as his hand connects with the light, Hell itself begins to tremble. The light is smaller than it seemed and Castiel is able to hold it against his chest as he readies the strength of his grace.

He flaps his wings and takes off, his grace shining brightly to scare off any nearby demons. He feels his wings catch on something, but only momentarily as he surges to the surface. As he returns to the first ring, he feels the soul nestle into his grace for safety. He thinks nothing of it until he reaches the soul’s broken container.

It is repaired to working condition, and before it can attempt to robotically take its first breath, Castiel brings the soul from his chest to set back within the vessel. The soul attempts to cling. Castiel does not allow this. Upon pulling the soul away, he notices that he feels something small within his chest go missing.

The soul took a tiny piece of his grace when it pulled back from him. Castiel did not feel much concern about this, as it may help the soul stay safe until it petered out and withered away. Seeing the soul settle into the body and hearing the first soft beat of his heart, Castiel took this to be his time to depart. His emergence from Hell had caused a shockwave, and he had no doubt that Michael was angry over his actions back in Hell. As he departed, Castiel lifted his head and let out a triumphant cry through the wavelengths for all to hear.

_Dean Winchester is saved._


	2. Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since Lucifer rose, the Horsemen had been rampaging indiscriminately and causing complete chaos wherever they showed up. They made their appearances loud and proud, so the boys never really doubted it when they caught wind of a possible lead. Their current lead was in Plainfield, Connecticut. If the lore that Chuck found was reliable, then they could very well get a leg up on this Apocalypse situation.

It could be very hard to concentrate on anything when Dean got really into a song. He’d smack his hands against the steering wheel and sing to himself, and as soon as he caught wind of someone’s annoyance with it, he’d crank the music and sing even louder. Moving the flashlight off the map that he’d been trying to read to plan out their next stop, Sam looked over at Dean, lips pressed into a firm line as he saw Dean throw his head back and begin to croon along to the song playing loudly over the cassette deck.

[ _“Ramble on! And now’s the time, the time is now to sing my song!”_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW5ZLyY9w0Y)

It was Dean’s favourite song, and he was trying to sing to it around a huge mouthful of half melted ice cream and fries. Sam looked away from his brother and stared disdainfully at the food he’d gotten them. Sam had gotten a chicken salad, which was possibly the only ‘healthy’ thing there. Dean had gotten a giant monstrosity of a burger with extra sauce and lots of extra bacon, as well as a large order of fries and something that Sam figured _used_ to be a parfait of some kind. How his brother wasn’t  five hundred pounds was something that mystified Sam.

**“Dude, do you even know what’s in that thing?”**

**“I don’t know, I think they call it a Flamethrower.”**

Shrugging and grinning at Sam around an impossibly large mouthful of food, Dean returned his gaze to the road, stuffing his mouth with more ice cream as soon as he’d choked down the burger. Shaking his head and returning his eyes to his map, Sam ran his finger down the map to see where their next stop was. They just finished an easy salt and burn in Ulrichsville, where Dean had afterwards insisted on getting Dairy Queen, and the best place to rest from there would be Steubenville. Then they could cross into Pennsylvania to take care of that vampire nest in Altoona.

The rather frequent hunts recently weren’t a surprise. Since the world was ending, it was normal to have multiple hunts in just a few states. The hunts were a side thing for them right now though. They were on a road trip to Plainsfield, Connecticut after receiving a phone call from Chuck. He thought he might have a way to stop a Horseman.

Since Lucifer rose a few weeks ago, the Horsemen had been rampaging indiscriminately and causing complete chaos wherever they showed up. They made their appearances loud and proud, so the boys never really doubted it when they caught wind of a possible lead. Their current lead was in Plainfield, Connecticut. If the lore that Chuck found was reliable, then they could very well get a leg up on this Apocalypse situation.

Two days ago, Chuck had dug up a piece of very old, very tattered Enochian lore. He had taken time to translate it, with some help from Castiel, and had found some information on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. That one was virtually powerless without it’s ring. He told the boys this, and Sam immediately had dragged Dean out of bed at six in the morning to get going to the nearest place where they were having Horseman-like reports.

 **“How sure can we even be that the lore that Chuck found is legit?”** Sam glanced up at Dean, seeing his brother merely shrug.

**“It is ‘legit’.”**

Both of the boys nearly jumped from their seats, Sam’s hand instinctively going to the pistol on his hip while Dean nearly went into the ditch, spilling ice cream on the floor. Cursing at the mess, Dean shut off the radio before looking accusingly into the rearview mirror. A pair of narrowed eyes met his glare, not seeming very concerned.

**“Cas, if that stains the flooring, I swear to-“**

A soft whispering sound cut Dean off, and immediately the flooring was cleaned to its previous condition, any hint of ice cream gone. Huffing and looking away, Dean continued to sulk over being startled like that while Sam relaxed back into his chair.

**“Hey Cas, while you’re here, you might want to clear porky’s arteries before he lands himself with a heart attack.”**

**“Ouch, Sam. That hurts.”** Dean put his hand to his chest in mock offense while Sam gave a little smartass grin. Castiel, however, seemed completely disgusted at the mention of him even touching Dean. Dean blinked when seeing Castiel’s expression in the rearview mirror.

**“Wow, Cas, way to hurt a girl’s feelin-“**

Before he even finished the sentence, Castiel was gone in a rush of wings. Sam and Dean shared a look, eyebrows raised.

**“That was weirder than normal.”**

**“Yeah, tell me about it…”**

They didn’t really converse past that and after a quiet twenty minutes of driving, they entered Steubenville. The motel they found was as ratty as they normally were, but luckily didn’t have some eye blistering tacky theme to it this time. The last motel with the 80’s animal print theme had been hard for both of them to deal with.

This time, they were stuck in a small room with two single beds, which Sam felt a little dubious about. He didn’t like to have his feet hanging over the edge of a bed. The dirty wallpaper was peeling off the walls in places, and the carpet looked like it hadn’t been vacuumed since 1993. Setting his bag on the bed closest to the wall, Sam looked up when he heard Dean ticking away on his phone. Raising a brow, Sam ignored it until he heard Dean order a large meat lover’s pizza to the room.

**“Dean, we _just_ ate and you’re ordering a pizza?”**

**“I’m still hungry.”**

Sam nearly threw up when he watched Dean effortlessly eat the entire pizza to himself, and it got even worse when they went to bed. All that food had Dean doing Sam’s least favourite thing- He was farting uncontrollably in his sleep. Sam had to bury his face in his pillow to avoid the horrible smell, and after a while he was lucky enough to pass out.

-

Two days had passed and they were in Plainsfield, but things were getting weird with Dean. He was still eating enough food to fill up an adult male elephant, and now he was getting a little sluggish. It only got worse when they got into town. Now he was almost ravenous, and Sam himself was craving demon blood more than he had in weeks. It was their first clue to which Horseman was here.

Trying to rest the night before going to find the Horseman in the morning was nearly impossible, with both of the boys so on edge that they could barely think straight. In the morning, they saw a story about the patients at the Colonial Health and Rehab Center falling into their old vices to deadly results on the front page of the town’s newspaper. That was their second clue.

With these clues and a possible location for the Horseman, the boys tried to come up with a plan to stop the Horseman. So far, their plan was to have Sam distract him while Dean got close enough to cut off his ring. It wasn't a good plan by any means, but neither of the two could really think with this desperate hunger clouding their minds. Dean was the one to break into the Rehab Center, and as soon as they laid foot in the building, they felt themselves taken over with desperate hunger. Dean actually looked tempted to eat his brother, while Sam was looking around wildly, nostrils flared. Demons were near and spurred Sam into striding briskly down the halls, not in control of his own body, merely following the urges he felt.

Dean followed, feeling his hunger get worse as they delved deeper into the building. They followed until they reached a room, the door hanging ajar. Pressing the door open, they caught sight of a man in a wheelchair facing the window, hair white and nearly translucent. He was wearing an ill-fitting suit and was surrounded by an entourage of men and women dressed in suits and sunglasses, hands behind their backs.

Sam immediately lunged, foaming at the mouth. A lazy flick of a wrist sent him crashing backwards against the wall. Dean felt panic at seeing his brother thrown like a ragdoll, but when the man in the wheelchair turned and looked over his shoulder, Dean felt as if his body was being ripped apart from the inside, hunger clawing viciously at his stomach. Falling to his knees, Dean clutched at his stomach and cried out, digging his fingertips into the skin. 

He could hear the hum of the wheelchair as Famine rolled closer, he could feel the agonizing need for food get worse. He could hear Sam struggling where he was pinned to the wall. Pressing his head against the floor, Dean shook violently as the pain in his body got worse, blood dribbling from his lips. It was almost like his body was cannibalizing itself for nutrients.

 **"Well, I can't say I've ever seen anything like you before, Winchester. A very interesting specimen indeed, yet still vulnerable to hunger."** Famine sounded quite smug.  **"Your brother yearns to eat the ones with whom I stand to the point of becoming a rabid animal, yet your body craves food so badly that it turns upon itself. That's not very human of you, Dean."**

Whatever obscenity Dean wanted to spit at the Horseman came out as a strangled cry, the elder Winchester crumpling further onto the floor when he felt a firm hand on his spine. Pain erupted from his back as his spine felt as if it was breaking, bones rippling under his skin. When the hand was finally removed, Dean collapsed and tried to regain his breath while Famine chuckled to himself.

**"You are a truly extraordinary specimen, Dean. I look forward to sampling your soul."**

Hand snaking to the knife at his hip, Dean used the remaining strength in his body to lash upwards at the hand reaching for him. Famine drew back with a small hiss, eyeing his hand. His finger was cut deeply just beneath his ring, but still attached. Dean could see the understanding pass through Famine's eyes. He knew what the Winchesters had come for, what they had come to do. 

**"I admire the conviction, but it will never be that easy. I wish you luck in locating me again."**

The entourage of demons soon surrounded the Horseman as he wheeled out of the room, Dean trying to crawl after him. As soon as they were out of sight, Sam fell from the wall and immediately scrambled to try to give chase. Dean grabbed his leg and brought him to the ground, holding him down while Famine left. He didn't want Famine to escape, but there was no way in Hell that he was letting his little brother go after those demons and fall back into his old vices. Sam fought viciously, trying to get up and follow, but the deep rumble of a car signalled Famine's departure. Dean was still in incredible pain, barely able to hold his brother down any longer.

A flap of wings filled the room they were in. Two fingers were set on the foreheads of each hunter before everything went silent.


End file.
